So I've been playing a lot of KOTOR lately and the energy shields from the game gave me an idea. Note that I've added some features to make it more brikwarsy.

Basically we already have various armor forms in Brikwars, such as Natalya's mimetic armor, heavy armor, and body armor. Body armor gives a +2 along with a -1" speed and no swimming, while Heavy Armor gives the Shielded specialty with half speed.

So, here's my thinking. The minifig can equip an energy shield, which functions like armor but won't slow them down, but does have a few flaws of their own:

Just like in the games, energy shields can't stop melee weapons like swords, axes, and knives. The shields only work against fast-moving projectiles and low-yield energy bursts (like bullets and blaster bolts). Higher concentrations of energy (that is, damage that overcomes the minifig's armor rating with the shield active) or submersion in water will cause the shield to short out. The number of damage points-wise over the minifig's armor shows the number of turns that the shield is deactivated.

Example: Frank the supercommando is wearing an energy shield, which gives him 5 armor. After stepping out from behind the corner of the hallway without looking both ways first, he is shot by a pair of droids in the hallway. The droids both hit him with their blaster carbines, each of which deals 1d6+1 damage. The first droid lands 4 damage, while the second does 3, for a total of 7 points of damage. That's 2 points over Frank's armor, which means his shield takes the brunt of the damage and shorts out for two turns. He is now left with only one hit point and no form of protection save the jumpsuit he is wearing. Fortunately for Frank, the droids weren't equipped with vibroswords or super soakers, in which case his energy shield would have been rendered useless.

I'd like to get some feedback on this. I know there will probably need to be some revisions, but I like the idea. Thoughts?